A candidate for Bennington County sheriff said he wasn’t aware his son had invoked his position as a sheriff’s deputy to intimidate the victim in a domestic violence case and that he was glad the justice system was holding his son accountable.
Lt. Joel Howard’s son, Zachary Howard, 30, of Pownal, was sentenced last week to three years of probation and a suspended jail sentence of 12-18 months after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of domestic assault. He admitted headbutting a woman above the bridge of her nose during an argument in 2019.
In a written motion in 2020, Deputy State’s Attorney Dana Nevins said the victim didn’t feel safe going to the courthouse in Bennington.
Nevins said she was worried Zachary Howard “may be given special privileges or provided special treatment that could affect her safety,” since his father has a supervisory role over the sheriff’s deputies who guard the courthouse.
During the course of Zachary Howard’s relationship with the woman, Nevins said, he indicated that “his father, by virtue of his position, would not let her take the kids away from him or allow other similar things to happen.”
Nevins asked the judge to move the case to the Windham County Superior criminal court. The Bennington County State’s Attorney’s Office had recused itself from the case because of the office’s close work with the local sheriff’s department.
Judge Cortland Corsones denied the prosecution’s request, saying the court could instead take protective steps. He issued an order that included asking Joel Howard not to provide security at the courthouse during hearings in his son’s case. And if the sheriff’s deputy wanted to attend any of the hearings as a member of the public, he could not be armed.
Joel Howard, the county’s Republican nominee for sheriff, said he didn’t know until he got a copy of the court order that his son had brought up his position at the sheriff’s department during discussions with the woman.
“I definitely don’t condone that behavior,” he said in an interview on Wednesday. “It’s nothing he’s ever learned here at the house.”
Joel Howard said he is glad his son has been held accountable “because nobody is above the law.” He also said the criminal case’s outcome would help his son understand the gravity of his offense.
Beau Alexander, an independent candidate for Bennington County sheriff, said he doesn’t believe Howard should be held responsible for the actions of his adult son.
Alexander said he doesn’t have personal knowledge of Zachary Howard’s case. But what generally concerns him, he said, is whether a person’s position of power benefits family members.
The Democratic nominee for local sheriff, James Gulley, declined to comment on the case. Zachary Howard’s two felony charges — aggravated domestic assault and unlawful restraint — were dismissed under a plea deal that came on the day his jury trial was scheduled to start on Aug. 30, as first reported in the Bennington Banner.